Historic Headlines

On Jan. 11, 1935, the aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip to Oakland, Calif., from Honolulu that she would complete the next day, becoming the first person to fly to the United States mainland from Hawaii.

The New York Times described the first moments of the flight: “She taxied down slowly to her starting point in the middle of the field and then
gave the plane the gun and got up quickly. As the ship went down the runway the propeller blast blew big chunks of mud from the field and over the red fuselage.”

The flight was just one of Ms. Earhart’s many pioneering achievements. Her most famous came in 1932, when she became the first woman (and just the second person, after Charles Lindbergh) to fly solo across the Atlantic.
She was also the first woman to fly as a passenger across the Atlantic, the first woman to fly solo across the United States, and the first person to fly to Mexico City from Los Angeles. In addition, she set several
altitude and speed records. In 1937, Ms. Earhart tried to set a distance record flying around the world near the equator. In July, about a month into her journey, Ms. Earhart, accompanied by the navigator
Fred Noonan, went missing while flying from New Guinea to Howland Island, a tiny coral airstrip in the South Pacific. Despite an encompassing search, Ms. Earhart, Mr. Noonan and the plane were never found.

The details of Amelia Earhart’s death remain mysterious. While it is most likely that the plane crashed into the Pacific and sank, there is some evidence that suggests she died on an uninhabited island. There
are also numerous urban legends that include her being taken prisoner, being a spy and assuming a
false identity.

Connect to Today:

Nearly 80 years after her disappearance, Amelia Earhart is still widely considered a feminist icon. The author Camille Paglia wrote in a 1996 New York Times Magazine article:
“Amelia Earhart symbolizes modern woman’s invasion of the male world of daring action and adventure. … Dashing in man-tailored shirts, jackets and slacks, Earhart became an icon of the rapidly
evolving new woman who sought self-definition and fulfillment outside the home.”

Do view Amelia Earhart as a feminist icon? Why or why not? In what ways do you think her accomplishments have inspired women over the last century? Who are other female trailblazers who lived long ago? What about in
today’s world?